Nothing To Fear..
Coming of Misery: Paint It Red, Aspects, Nothing To Fear.., Rogues, Wolves At The Door. "we are not afraid of the dark - we are afraid of the things which lurk within it.. deep in the realms of shadow a man is confronted with the abyss and as we have so often been told - the longer one stares into the abyss.. the more likely it is that the abyss shall stare back.." Prologue Phobias sat alone as he often did late at night, pondering to himself the nature of the Great Divide which seemed to possess the minds of his fellow Absolutes - after a short while he got to his feet and walked silently across the darkened fields. As he travelled Phobia became aware of a familar presence, that of Nightmare, a lesser-aspect of himself, wandering across the night sky in the form of a grinning spectre Phobia affording a nod and a smile as the creature silently entered a nearby home. Phobia's smile grew as the inevitable sound a mortal scream broke the silence of the night and he continued on his way - that was until another presence came over Phobia, one he had not felt for centuries.. "..Metus?" Phobia called out, turning around to gaze upon a spiralling vortex of monstrous images, swirling around like a maddening storm - floating in the centre of the vortex was a stuffed bear sitting atop a slab of stone. "..Father.. why have you forsaken me?" a high-pitched voice spoke out from the stuffed bear, its lifeless eyes staring at Phobia like burning coals. "..I had no choice, Metus.. you were uncontrollable.. did I not give you freedom?" Phobia replied. "..alone.. forever.. no.. Father.." the high-pitched voice raged, the lifeless eyes staring - as if piercing into the very soul. "..you are still a part of me, Metus - you must understand.. like Nightmare and Panic.. you remember them surely?" Phobia said, becoming concerned as he found himself with no place to run. "..take me.. home.. Father.." the high-pitched voice demanded, the creature floating towards Phobia - the swirling vortex following it in the process. "no! I - I can't! Metus! listen to me! they would not allow it!" Phobia exclaims. "..then.. you are enemy.." the high-pitched voice declares, a violent explosion occuring as it left the scene - the explosion sufficient to knock Phobia to the ground. After a few moments Phobia rose to his feet, rubbing his head as he sensed yet another presence nearby - turning around: "..and I suppose you had a hand in this?". "..Perhaps.." a dark voice notes from the shadows as a cloaked figure with glowing yellow eyes manifests nearby, "..what can you have to gain from this?" Phobia asked. "..to watch you suffer.. dear brother.." the cloaked figure replied, before vanishing like a ghost. Phobia frowned as he thought on this, "..then you leave me no choice, sister.. than to beat you at your own game..". Chapter 1 - Edge of Madness The scene shifted to a padded cell where a young woman was kept under lock and key, her name had been forgotten to time yet those who came across her had taken to naming her Pathos - she was a wild and unpredictable figure who often slammed against the walls at night, crying one moment and laughing the next. Although many put it down to "ghost stories" or "urban legends" rumor had it Pathos would even change physical form with each mood swing - as if she were able to bring both the darkest and sweetest parts of her emotion to the physical world, giving a horrific glimpse into her dreams.. and nightmares.. Pathos rarely recieved any visitors save for the occassional misfit or two, some of which claimed to have fought alongside her (or more often *against* her) - some with scars to prove it.. yet none stayed long and in truth Pathos never seemed to cling to sanity long enough to remember either way. It was Pathos' lack of memory that caught the attention of Derek, a guard who had been watching over her for some time - he often took advantage of any situation he could, becoming as much her tormentor as he was her "carer". Yet in the halls of the psychiatric ward turned prison none could stop Derek and he knew it, a new day dawning - visitors coming and going as was the norm.. Suddenly two figures walked into the ward, both resembling teenagers - one male and the other female, yet they were clearly not human: with dark skin, pointed ears, wings and strange glowing patterns that spread across what could been seen of their exposed skin. The pair were dressed in casual clothing and looked around for a member of staff. A short distance away, a figure wandered along, looking around constanly, his gaze shifting every few seconds. His long, wavy brown hair hung down to his shoulders, and his gaze was vacant. There were prominent shadows under his eyes, as if the man rarely got a wink of rest. Derek noticed the visitors and glared at them, not very appreciative of non-human types yet unable to do much about it - the world had changed considerably over the years and such sights were commonplace in a world of increasing superhuman activity. The brown-haired figure stopped for a moment. A slip of paper flew up from his pocket and levitated in front of his face. After he read it, the paper flew back down and slipped itself back into his pocket. The twins walked over to Derek and stopped, the female looking to him with as much contempt as he gave her - though the male had a strange expression on his face of blissful ignorance as he looked around with a smile. "..we're here to see Pathos.." the female said. Derek folded his arms and continued to glare at the figures, "..she's not seeing anyone today - doctor's orders.." he lied. "I don't think that was a request..." interrupts the figure with the vacant gaze, without even looking at Derek. Derek looks to the figure and frowns, "..Valley High Sanatorium is a superhuman psychiatric ward - not a meeting place for freaks like you.. so unless you are either a shrink, a cop or a psychotic you have no business being here.." "..yeah, it's also a stinking cesspool of corruption and vice.." the female figure said. "..Dox.. not helping.." the male frowns. "Allow me." the other figure says. Psychic waves extrude from his mind and enter Derek's, in an attempt to shackle his mind and control him briefly. "You will take us to see Pathos..." the psychic says. "..fuck y--" Derek begins, then his eyes become dull as his mind is taken over and he motions the group over "..come along.." - he moves to a nearby door and begins typing in a code: however a camera in a right-hand corner of the room continues to play, feeding the scene to unseen figures in a control-room nearby. "..shit.. psychics.. release the bots?" "..no.. let's see what they want first..". "Thanks, mate." Alan said simply as he walked into the room that Derek had opened. "..taking control of people's minds? is this what we've become?" the male begins. "Oh hush up, Captain Morality.. welcome to the real-world.." the female figure replies. "...and the real-world kind of sucks, I might add." Alan muttered. "Besides, there were few other options anyway..." Derek leads the group across a corridor filled with plastic doors that reveal several patients sitting in padded rooms, many of them restrained in straight-jackets or similar devices despite most institutions having stopped using such restraints except in extreme circumstances. One patient stood by a plastic door and grinned at Alan and the others, his body covered in horrific scars and stitches - tapping repeatedly on the glass his eyes scan over the group as they pass by like a predator eyeing up potential prey. "..she's in here.." Derek said as he began to open a nearby cell, which was one of the few that had a large metal door rather than a plastic one - making the inside of the cell a mystery.. After glancing warily back at the scarred patient, Alan spun back around and watched as Derek opened the metal cell. Derek stepped aside and let the group enter the room, as soon as they do so they see Pathos sitting in the corner of the room - the padded cover of her cell covered in scratches as she looked up and smiled, her arms and legs covered in bruises and her hair long and unkempt. Alan hesitated for a split-second, looking at Pathos. Something had obviously perturbed him, as if he could feel her own madness brushing against his mind- he was sensitive to thoughts, after all. Nevertheless, he proceeded into the room, almost awkwardly. Pathos continued to smile as she stood up, as she did so it is apparent she too is restrained in a straight-jacket: looking down the group also notice she is barefoot and the clothing she does have on seems is obviously tattered with age, signs of neglect and mistreatment all too apparent despite her perpetual smile. "One, Two, Three, Four, Five.. Once I Caught A Fish Alive.. Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten.. Then I Let It Go Again.." Pathos sing-songs, in a world of her own. Alan sighed; he knew he was unlikely going to get a straight answer out of Pathos, but he was nevertheless going to try and ask her his question- the problem was, he knew not how to go about doing so. Pathos then stops singing and jerks a little, her smile fading as she frowns and stares at Alan and the others with strange, knowing eyes: "..what did you do to Derek? That wasn't very nice..". "I shackled his mind," Alan said with a frown. "Something I don't like doing but sometimes must." The male and female figures stand in silence as they observe Pathos, noticing the jerk and the change in her expression as well as the strange eyes - "..Pathos.. we want to talk to you.." the female says in a quiet yet stern voice. "Derek doesn't like you playing with his mind - Derek wants to be free.." Pathos says, her frown increasing as she snaps her restraints with incredible strength, the straight-jacket bursting apart as she sways in place. Alan stared. "I've let him go," he said. "Oh? then you are in big trouble.." Pathos says, chuckling slightly - sure enough before Alan or the twins can react they hear the cell door slam shut behind him as Derek speaks through the small opening: "..let's see how tough you are now, freaks..". With that Derek shuts the small opening, effectively trapping the group inside with Pathos, who claps her hands like an excited child. Alan cursed his carelessness under his breath. "I got this.." the female figure notes, walking up to the door and pressing on it - before long it starts to crack and splinter, despite being padded and made of heavy metal. "..uh.. I don't know if this is a good idea.. this is a psychiatric ward and.. and.. err.." the male figure notes to his female counterpart, looking to Pathos - rather worried of the prospect of her escaping. Pathos continues clapping her hands as she sing-songs: "Yay! Now we get to play!". "Something tells me 'playtime' isn't going to end well..." thought Alan. Category:Storyarcs Category:Dark Category:Supernatural